1. Field
This invention relates to fabric wind shields for boats and, more particularly, to such wind shields designed to replace clear plastic wind shields in boats having centrally located cockpits.
2. Prior Art
Most prior art boats use clear plastic wind shields even though there is often no need to see through wind shields. This is especially true in boats having centrally located cockpits because the operator usually stands or sits in a position well above the wind shield. Despite this fact, most boats of this type install clear plastic wind shields which become scratched and serve very little functional purpose other than to fend off wind directed mostly at the lower part of the operator's body. This function could as well be carried out by an opaque wind shield such as a fabric wind shield which would not suffer from scratching as does the plastic wind shield. Convenient storage space, which is usually in demand in small boats, can be provided by such a fabric wind shield at low cost.
A number of prior art fabric wind shields are available as evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,308,109, 1,481,548, 2,817,859, 804,154 and 804,155. In the first of these U.S. patents, a collapsible windspray shield is illustrated. This device is primarily designed to serve simply as a wind shield in boats which have none and its primary advantage is its ability to be collapsed. It contains pockets which are, in reality, small passageways intended to pass support rods. There is no storage provided by this device and it is not intended to use an existing wind shield support, but must use its own specially designed support system. It therefore is not readily adaptable to boats having an existing wind shield support system.
The second U.S. Pat. No. 1,481,548, shows a collapsible wind shield, however, this wind shield is not intended for use in boats and it provides no storage space. U.S. Pat. No. 2,817,859 shows a fabric wind shield designed for boats. However, it is an unusual design requiring the wind shield to be placed immediately above the gunwales and it fails to provide any storage space.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 804,154 and 804,155 show a fabric wind shield designed for small boats. This wind shield is also placed immediately above the gunwale and fails to provide any storage space.